Malignaggi calls out 'talent-less' Bradley

ABS-CBN News

MANILA, Philippines – World Boxing Association (WBA) welterweight champion Paulie Malignaggi on Tuesday called out new World Boxing Organization (WBO) welterweight champion Timothy Bradley Jr., saying he can beat the undefeated American easily.

Malignaggi, an Italian-American boxer, told Boxing Scene that Bradley is a “talent-less” boxer.

“He is talent-less. The guy wins on heart, and it takes a lot more than heart to beat Paulie Malignaggi,” he said.

Malignaggi also fired back at Bradley’s trainer, Joel Diaz, who claimed that Malignaggi would be easy work for the American.

“Since when has any fight been an easy fight for Tim Bradley? His trainer goes around saying I’m an easy fight, but the comical thing about it is, Bradley isn’t good enough to make any fights easy,” Malignaggi said.

“He wins on having more will and heart than the other guy. Sometimes he even gets a gift,” he said, referring to Bradley’s highly controversial split-decision victory over Filipino fight king Manny Pacquiao.

Bradley won the WBO welterweight title off Pacquiao, but his win was highly controversial. The WBO itself announced last week that a panel of five international judges had unanimously re-scored the bout in Pacquiao’s favor, though they would not strip Bradley of the championship.

Malignaggi said if he and Bradley fought, the American “can use both his fists plus his head, and (I) will still beat him easy.”

“How in the world would he beat me, when I can match will and determination with any body, yet I have more talent than he does?” he added.

Malignaggi has a record of 31 wins with four losses. He is coming off a ninth-round technical knockout victory against Vyacheslav Senchenko last April, wherein he won the WBA welterweight belt.